


Need

by Zarla



Category: Mario - Fandom
Genre: Adventure, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-14
Updated: 2004-07-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 04:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarla/pseuds/Zarla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Peasley is bored, so he invites Luigi to stay at his castle for a while. The problem arises when Luigi has to go home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Need

**Author's Note:**

> To head this off right away - Prince Peasley is a character from Mario &amp; Luigi: Superstar Saga.

There were small areas in the castle designated for seclusion. Not many, since the structure was so large it easily allowed solitude amidst its long meandering halls, but there were a few areas specifically designed for those seeking intentional solitude.

It was these areas that he tended to gravitate towards the most, so that was where he first looked.

Servants darted around him and gave him quick greetings and news snippets as he wandered the marbled green floors of his castle home. The prince had not ever truly left his kingdom, although he had often left the castle to save the day, but he knew without such experience that there was no place else where he would feel so comfortable. This castle was his home and he knew everything, every corner and every lonely place inside it.

Therefore, it was not a matter of if he would find Luigi, but a matter of when.

After the Beanbean kingdom had been saved with the help of two outsiders, a fact that Prince Peasley had never quite made peace with, life had returned to fairly normal. He was called out to solve minor problems, but nothing of the scale he had encountered not too long before. He had said good-bye to the Mario brothers and had not really expected to see them again. Whether or not he wanted to was not that important. He would not be so rude as to impose on them that way.

However, with a period of peace ahead for the Beanbean Kingdom that did not seem to be ending soon, he felt that he may as well extend the invitation for a friendly get-together. They were quite the pair after all and more then worthy of a true friendship. If he really wanted to, he could justify the request for a visit diplomatically by resolving to keep the lines between their countries open. That was a fairly weak excuse, considering Lady Lima and Toadsworth's budding relationship which seemed to cement contact between the two countries firmly.

Even so, the whole question was moot regardless since no one questioned the motives behind or the addressees of the single letter that Peasley sent out, fastened shut with his rose seal.

Of the two Mario brothers, Peasley found himself most interested in expanding a relationship with the younger. Although Peasley was used to being admired from his own people, it struck him as odd that a person with such powers as Luigi would admire him. For example, Luigi could create lightning with his hands, something that Peasley, as of yet, had not mastered, and that was only one ability of many that Peasley could not imitate. Luigi had more then likely been on a great deal more adventures then the prince in various lands.

However, Luigi quite obviously admired the prince and perhaps even idolized him, although Peasley thought the idea rather silly. Compared to the Mario brothers' amazing and well-deserved reputation, he was not one to be admired so, but he thought it interesting. It wasn't unpleasant after all, just kind of strange.

So he sent the letter addressing the two plumbers, asking if they'd like to come visit him. He didn't expect a real answer, much less a quick one, so he waited. He fulfilled odd tasks, rescued people, and in general went about his daily routine.

About two weeks ago, one of his servants had given him a letter back. This one was written on plain white paper with no special embellishments, quite the opposite of Peasley's monogrammed stationary, and it was from Luigi. He wrote that his brother had gone on some adventure and, since he had little to do except care for the house, he would be interested in visiting for a while.

Peasley had thought back then that perhaps Luigi was trying to hide his excitement through the letter, but he also knew from their previous experiences that Luigi was quite shy. Maybe he did not want to appear too eager.

This may have seemed presumptuous on the prince's part, but not so much in hindsight. When he met Luigi at the Beanbean airport, he found that the young plumber was quite excited to be back in the Beanbean kingdom. He tried to hide it but did not do a very good job.

Peasley asked him if he wanted a tour around the land he had saved, and Luigi had nodded. He spoke little while in the prince's presence, perhaps too embarrassed or too shy to say anything for fear of offending him. When a member of a village or a storekeeper would compliment him, Luigi would blush furiously, more so when they remembered his name. Sadly those that recalled his name were few in number, but those that did embarrassed Luigi more then enough to make up for it. He wasn't used to such attention in more ways then one.

During his visit, Peasley had tried quite hard to assure Luigi that he would not be offended by anything he said and tried to get him to stop being quite so shy. He had made a little progress in that Luigi actually did speak directly to him without blushing, but it was very easy to cause the Mario brother to flush and avoid a question.

He was just so very shy. Peasley wondered if it was because he had been overlooked so often or whether that was how Luigi made people overlook him. From the few stories he managed to extract from him, he was not the adventuring type. When the need arose he would go out and he would accomplish, in Peasley's opinion that Luigi did not share, great things, but he preferred to stay home. It was hard to say if this was the cause of his shyness or a result of it. The chicken or the egg.

He was easily scared as well, which was another factor in his reserved personality. One of the earlier nights he had stayed in the castle, he woke Peasley up sometime in the middle of the night, whimpering about a ghost that had appeared in his room.

Luigi had had a number of bad experiences with ghosts, even in the Beanbean kingdom, and so his slight phobia was not totally misplaced. In fact, they were a part of one of Luigi's grander solo adventures, although Luigi did not elaborate on the exact role they played. Perhaps the memories were still too frightening for him, or perhaps he felt it a boring story. It was hard to say.

He was very clearly afraid and made no effort to hide it, so Peasley felt obligated, as he would to any frightened person, to investigate. Peasley had doubted the existence of ghosts in his castle, though not in general, and did not exactly believe Luigi.

Regardless, he agreed to search for him.

Luigi had hovered behind him, making small fretting noises as Peasley looked under, around, and beneath things.

"Any ghosts in here?" he had called with a smile, hoping to put Luigi more at ease. He did not seem to notice, still seemingly using Peasley as a shield against any potential foe. He remembered seeing Luigi do that with Mario back during the entire Bowletta debacle.

The "ghost" had turned out to be a loose sheet draped over a bedpost, but regardless of this discovery Luigi had problems getting back to sleep. He was quite insistent that the sheet had been moving in an entirely un-sheet-like fashion and that ghosts love to disappear only to reappear at the most inopportune time. He mentioned Boos.

Despite the fact that the sheet presented no threat, particularly after the prince had folded and put it away, he decided to indulge Luigi's request that he stand guard. He did not find the prospect that horrible, considering that Luigi was his guest and he did want to make his stay as pleasant as possible. Rather, he found it somewhat amusing, or that's what he thought, that Luigi could be so easily placated by another person's presence, regardless of actual or imagined danger. He also found it amusing that Luigi, to some extent, needed him in some way that night, despite the fact that if a ghost had shown up, Luigi most likely could have handled it by himself without much trouble.

"I promise you that no ghost will get by me while I sit here," Peasley had told the shy plumber, deciding to make his post a chair beside Luigi's bed. Luigi apparently trusted him enough to fall back asleep again without any further disturbances. Peasley ended up napping at some points during the night despite his best efforts. However, Luigi didn't know, so no harm was done.

It was one of the more memorable of their small-scale adventures, at least to the prince.

It was surprising, really. Luigi had accepted the invitation to stay, but had not specified how long he intended to enjoy Peasley's hospitality. Peasley did not mind, he just thought it odd that Luigi could leave as he did and not feel the urge to return. Two weeks went by with Luigi at the castle, and he seemed to enjoy each minute of it. Peasley explained their history to him and Luigi listened with great interest. His specialty was listening. He still didn't speak much.

Once, when they were walking down a darkened hallway, a small creature caused a sudden sharp noise and Luigi immediately leapt to Peasley's side and grasped his hand. Peasley was more startled by the Mario brother's action rather then the noise itself. Luigi had told Peasley very little about himself or how he felt or what he was thinking beforehand, but when fear overtook him, he immediately initiated quite close contact! He found it most curious. However, when the threat had passed and Peasley explained what had caused the noise, Luigi blushed quite hard but did not let go of the prince's hand.

Peasley had no desire to let go either.

Despite all the evidence he had to the contrary, all the amazing things he had seen the brothers do, Luigi gave off this aura of intense vulnerability. Of weakness, of incapability. He was not threatening, intimidating, or the least bit confident, especially in his own abilities. At the first sign of danger, he was usually the first to cringe and hide. He knew that Luigi was quite brave and had saved the Mushroom Kingdom countless times, that he had the ability to do great things and yet...somehow he felt as if there was little Luigi could do alone. Perhaps that was more accurate then he knew. It was rare that Mario and Luigi were apart, much less the younger brother accomplishing something without Mario's help or guidance. Whether or not Mario actually contributed to the solution of the problem was somewhat negligible...it was Mario's presence that seemed to give Luigi the confidence that he needed.

Peasley often wondered just how Luigi felt about him. How much did he admire the prince and his accomplishments? Did he feel small and weak around him or did Peasley's presence embolden him? Was Peasley a force of good, in terms of getting Luigi to open up and believe in himself, or was the admiration that he held for him holding Luigi back even further?

He found that even if he was holding Luigi back, he wanted to be near him anyway. There was something so endearing about him. How he blushed so often. So self-conscious and unsure. He apologized often for things that weren't his fault.

Despite his obvious admiration for the prince, he never spoke as such aloud. Perhaps he was too shy or too polite, or maybe he knew that it bothered the prince on some level. Peasley could see it in his posture and how he moved his hands though, the small nervous movements when he got something for him, when he handed him a cup of coffee and how he smiled in that weak way. A very clear message. _Like this please._

Like me please.

He was far too quiet.

They had wandered around the hallways during their days, talking about nothing in particular. Well, Peasley did most of the talking. Luigi simply nodded or made small noises in agreement. He was trying to communicate with him and yet, Luigi's lack of verbal engagement in his conversations didn't really bother him. He was getting used to reading the signals, his body language. As time went on, how Luigi went about gathering things as he readied himself for bed spoke of his mood. The pause between affirmative or negative answers. The hesitant looks downwards with only the most sporadic glances towards the prince, hoping he wouldn't catch him staring.

He was too shy to try it himself. When the prince even mentioned it, he blushed again. Regardless, Peasley did not think he would mind too much and with great resolve, took Luigi's hand again without a scary noise to prompt him. Luigi had made a startled gasping noise, like a small animal that had been inadvertently stepped on, then couldn't look at him again for the rest of their walk. His face almost radiated heat as he tried to stifle his embarrassment, but he did not pull his hand away. So with a satisfied smile, Peasley walked down the hallway hand-in-hand with him. It was a small token, an effort to encourage Luigi that it was okay to reach out, that the prince was not as untouchable as he seemed.

It was strange to think that before when Bowletta had just been defeated, Luigi had leapt as if to embrace him and now, even such minor touching seemed to be too forward. Maybe without the emotion of that joyful time he felt more reserved. It was hard to say exactly, but Peasley was sure that with the right encouragement, he could help Luigi take more action on his own.

Perhaps the prince thought too highly of his people-reading abilities, but he felt confident that he could tell what Luigi wanted. What he wanted to ask but never found the courage or the time.

Sometimes after breakfast, Luigi would clear the table without thought, then stand in the kitchen in front of the sink in the middle of washing a dish as the realization that this was unnecessary would strike him. Often he would be far too paralyzed with embarrassment to walk back out to face the prince and feel too obligated to finish the job, so he'd just stand there awkwardly, waiting for someone to solve the problem for him. Prince Peasley would have to come in and take him away, practically having to drag the reluctant plumber along. Even though Peasley would explain that he knew why Luigi went through such simple routines, the plumber wouldn't speak for a while after that. Then again, he rarely spoke anyway. It was a subtle difference.

Everyone in the castle liked him. He was pleasant and easy to get along with, mostly because he stayed out of everyone's way and said little.

There were several places in the castle where Luigi could have gone to be alone. Peasley had first checked the gardens, particularly near his rosebushes.

While giving Luigi tours during the first few days of his stay, the prince had been eager to show off his rosebushes. After all, he was quite proud of his roses and he gave them out as passes to his kingdom, as signs of friendship. They were valuable to him and to the others that served him.

When he told Luigi of the gardens, he noted his eyes lighting up. Apparently, as he could determine from the mumbled words and nods, Luigi fancied himself something of a gardener and spent a lot of time, while Mario was away, planting and taking care of things.

When he asked if he had planted any rosebushes, Luigi shook his head, explaining quietly that while the gift Peasley had given him inspired him to try, he had not had much luck. He was rather determined to raise some though and Peasley found it quite the compliment.

He had shown Luigi his rosebushes with the rarer colors. Peasley spent time, while not helping others, raising roses and he felt justifiably proud of his accomplishments.

"Here are the yellow ones..." He watched Luigi blush when he pointed at them. "I gave one of those to you before."

He had nodded but didn't say anything.

"Purple ones, orange ones, yellow ones with red tips, black ones, even blue ones, though those were quite hard to get...here, here are my red ones." They were somewhat in the minority in terms of color, only a few bushes compared to the rambling hedges that typified the other roses. "They're very special you know. There is a language to flowers after all, particularly roses. The color can stand for a great deal."

Luigi had stared at him and he laughed to try and ease the potential awkwardness. "You learn this kind of thing when you're raised as royalty, particularly by as many women as I! Here..."

He had leaned over and plucked one of his rare red roses, holding it out to his companion.

"Take it as a reminder for me to give you some to plant before you go."

Luigi could not speak, but Peasley knew he had given him something of great importance. He stared down at the red rose in his gloved hands with quiet awe, apparently not expecting such a rare gift. Not wanting him to pull back into an unresponsive admiring shell, Peasley put an arm around his shoulders and walked him away, back towards the yellow roses.

"But really, as I said before...I think yellow matches your green much better."

Luigi barely managed a soft "thank you" in response but he seemed far more overjoyed then his words would have indicated. Peasley could tell however, and the happiness of others flooded through him. It was nice and very addictive.

Luigi had put the rose in water very carefully and kept it beside his bed, alongside a fresh yellow one from that same afternoon. Sometimes when Peasley was wandering by, he caught glimpses of Luigi staring at them thoughtfully, although he was not sure what he would be thinking about.

Although Peasley did give him gifts that had the intention of being used back in the Mushroom Kingdom, the possibility of him returning had not really crossed his mind. He knew that Luigi had to go back home sometime, perhaps soon, but somewhere he never expected sometime to come. Luigi seemed to fit in so well here, perhaps due to his quiet nature. That and he was the most enjoyable company that Peasley knew of, and he was not one to let go of things easily.

Today, when Peasley had gone to find him, he was not in his room and as he found out, the gardens. Therefore he deduced he must be in one of the alcoves somewhere in the castle. He had shown him them when he had first come and Luigi had seemed very interested. He found it somewhat curious that Luigi would be so afraid of being alone and yet seek solitude at the same time.

He finally found him in the library. He was sitting on a ledge near a window, staring outside at the cloudy sky. Green, blue, and brown against gray. He stood out quite easily, although he did not seem to expect to be disturbed.

"There you are!" Peasley smiled as he walked towards him. At the sound of his voice, Luigi looked down. Sensing something was wrong, Peasley softened the tone of his voice, dampening his cheer. "Where have you been?"

He made his way to Luigi's side and sat beside him on the ledge, trying to make eye contact. Luigi could not look at him, instead staring fixedly at the floor. Peasley waited, wondering if he'd do something, but he stayed still.

"Is something wrong?"

Luigi glanced at him quickly and then looked back at the floor. With an almost silent sigh, he handed the prince a short letter.

Peasley looked at him before he read it, but Luigi had returned his attention to the floor. He glanced over the contents of the message, feeling awkward about reading his friend's mail, but soon found himself paying quite a bit of attention.

"Mario...needs you back home?" He had not thought of this. Thought of someone else summoning Luigi away. He had expected him to leave of his own accord...

Luigi nodded, still not looking at him.

He knew better then to impose. He had been raised as royalty after all, he knew how to handle a delicate situation like this. Without any real emotion.

"Well, I suppose it would happen eventually. I'm sure he must need you if he sent you a message. And after all, he would need you more then I..."

_Maybe._

Luigi glanced at him again then slightly nodded. Peasley handed him back the letter, glad to have it off his hands. He watched as Luigi put it down near the window, not paying the greatest of attention.

"And you must go...did he specify a date? I'm afraid I was not looking at the numbers too carefully..."

Luigi did not say or do anything.

He had seen Luigi upset before, once when unconsciously cleaning up he had dropped a cup and broken it. He had not been able to forgive himself for almost two days afterwards. This was a similar kind of sadness, but not exactly so. After all, Luigi had broken nothing. Well, nothing that he knew of at the moment anyway.

"Are you all right?" Peasley asked without thought, then remembered his required detached state. "You must be glad to be returning home. You've spent a lot of time here."

Luigi nodded.

"Well, I enjoyed your company greatly," Peasley added with a flourish, approaching the end of a prewritten good-bye address without thought. "I do hope we meet...or rather, you can come visit again."

At that, Luigi turned and stared at him. Confused at the sudden eye contact, Peasley did not turn away and walk off as he had planned. Instead he remained and met his gaze, the two of them staring at one another.

Eventually, he could see the telltale tinge rising to Luigi's face and, unable to keep up the contact, Luigi dropped his eyes to the floor again.

Peasley had no idea what that meant. So much for being able to read him!

"You...you're always welcome to come visit us anytime you want." Peasley struggled to regain control of the situation and fell back into another prewritten good-bye. "Our doors will always be open for you."

Luigi moved his gaze from the floor to Peasley's hand, which rested between the two.

"I, for one, will definitely be anxiously awaiting your next visit..." He felt quite plastic. This wasn't what he wanted to say, but he was saying it anyway. "I wish you could stay longer."

That was closer.

He stared at his hand.

"I really have enjoyed having you around. You're very interesting." Breaking away from the lines and improvising. He was good at that. "It's too bad that you're needed somewhere else though. I would-...it would be kind of selfish of me to want to keep you here just because I enjoy your company."

_I do want to keep you.  
_  
Luigi rested his hand beside Peasley's, but did not touch it. He stared at him again for a few seconds before again focusing on something else. His cheeks were still slightly red.

"It's not that I didn't think you would have to go home, it's just I didn't think it would be so soon. Actually...I'm not sure when I expected you to head home. I guess I just wasn't thinking ahead." He laughed slightly. "I'm usually so good at that."

"I like it here," Luigi finally whispered. Peasley was quite surprised to hear Luigi talk at all, so did not respond for a few seconds.

"That's great! I'm glad you had a good time."

Luigi opened his mouth as if to speak, but then did not say anything.

"It must be a change to have so many people paying attention to you, huh?" He was referring to the servants. Or at least, that's what he thought he was referring to.

At that statement, Luigi turned and stared at Peasley quite hard. He matched his gaze this time despite his rising blush. Peasley found this kind of peculiar, but did not break his gaze away.

On an impulse, Peasley thought about the two hands so close to each other on the ledge and decided to close that distance. He took hold of Luigi's hand quickly and tightly, much too fast for Luigi to dodge or move his hand out of the way. If he would have been so inclined.

Luigi did not move his hand at all once it was held. Instead he closed his eyes and lowered his head, staring at the cushion with reddened cheeks.

With the contact between hands and the imminent prospect of Luigi leaving for some unknown period of time, Peasley decided to chance more contact. Luigi was acting kind of strange, after all. He used his free hand to touch Luigi's face gently and could feel the heat rising off of it. "Are you all right?"

At the touch, Luigi opened his eyes and stared at him again, this time in quite obvious surprise. He resembled an animal caught in sudden headlights. He stared at Peasley with his mouth open, as if waiting for him to explain himself.

Silence for a few seconds.

"Do you...you are going to go, aren't you?" Peasley watched his face fall. Luigi nodded slowly, brushing against his hand.

"Of course, you should...it's far more important I would think." _Not important to me. But-_ "Lives could be at stake...and if he really needs your help, things must be serious."

Luigi looked down, still blushing. He hadn't moved his face away from Peasley's hand yet.

Perhaps this was the same situation as the hand-holding.

Curious, and that was the story he was sticking with, Peasley gently rubbed a thumb across Luigi's skin. It was hard to say if the resulting movement was instinctual or not, but Luigi leaned into his hand. He blushed harder once he realized what he had done and Luigi looked down again, raising his free hand to nibble on the edge of one of his gloves. He did that often when he was nervous or embarrassed. Two of his more common emotional states.

"So shy..." Peasley accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud. Luigi gave him a very strange look and, as if in some kind of revenge, the prince felt himself blushing slightly at his awkward blunder. The prince blushing! "I mean..."

Another awkward silence. His hand still rested on Luigi's face. The strange look was gone, although he still seemed confused by Peasley's sudden words. Hoping to remove the focus off his verbal faux-pas, he again rubbed his thumb against Luigi's skin softly.

This time he did not move into the motion, but Luigi did look at Peasley quite intently. He was still blushing, but he looked at the prince as if asking something. He was far too shy to ask whatever question it was out loud.

"I wonder, will you come back...?"

Luigi didn't answer. He stared down at their clasped hands.

Peasley shifted the hand on his guest's face out of scientific curiousity, or that's what he tried to believe. He slide it back until he felt the strands of Luigi's hair between his fingers. In response to this, Luigi leaned forward, obviously knowing he was being drawn closer, although he was not sure why.

Peasley felt him shake beneath his hand. He did not seem frightened, so the only other explanation was that he was nervous...

Shy...

Luigi looked up at him as if knowing his train of thought and closed his eyes, still blushing.

_I want you to come back. I like you.  
_   
_It's possible this adventure could take a long time. Not only that, there's a good chance that when they get back home they'll have forgotten all about this place, our kingdom, and everything that happened. Too busy to respond, to answer, too busy to come over again._

I want you to come back. I don't like the idea of you not being here. Of you forgetting me. I don't like that idea at all.

He pulled Luigi closer, as if to emphasize his mental point. At the movement Luigi leaned his head towards him and kept his eyes closed.

So shy. He realized now what it was he wanted to do, how he wanted to say good-bye. What he wanted to say but his deep shyness prevented him from saying as much. Admiration's next logical step. And yet, the fear of offending him, fear of saying something wrong...

And now, after all of their time spent together, small gifts and exchanges, shared joy and attention, he could tell what it was he wanted.

_I want you to come back.  
_  
He was so unused to attention.

Despite the gentleness with which he pulled Luigi closer to him, it was clear that there was no way he was letting him escape. Not yet anyway.

Luigi made a small noise.

He kissed him very softly, ready to pull away at a moment's notice if it turned out he had interpreted incorrectly. He could feel the shiver of surprise run through Luigi's body, but he did not pull away. After a few seconds, he pulled back and looked at his guest. Luigi stared at him with a measure of confusion and nervousness, now shaking quite hard.

Emboldened by his previous success, Peasley pulled him close again, kissing him this time with a bit more force. Luigi whimpered slightly in response, but rather then pull away, he tried to get closer. He let his fingers come free from Peasley's, running up his arm until he reached the prince's shoulder where he clasped the cloth of his jerkin tightly.

With his other hand now free, Peasley used it grasp Luigi's back, angling him towards him.

He did not want to truly deepen the kiss yet, fearing that may be moving a bit too fast for someone so shy, but he did not let him go until he felt he was ready. Once he did though, Luigi looked down and took a few deep, tremulous breaths. His shaking had only increased in intensity, although by this point there was no way his blush could get any deeper. Peasley did feel some heat from his own face, but he wrote that off as a natural consequence.

He untangled his hand from Luigi's hair and rubbed it across his cheeks where the mustache had brushed against him. Kind of itchy. Not the kind of thing people warn you about.

Luigi did not see this, fortunately, still quite focused on staring down at the floor and trying to keep his breathing under control.

He gently raised Luigi's face so that they could meet eye to eye. He could feel his frenzied heartbeat underneath his fingertips. They stared at one another in silence for a few seconds.

"Will you come back?"

_You have to say yes.  
_  
Luigi blinked at him and then nodded just slightly.

Relief flooded over the young prince. The fear of losing him was averted now. He had grown so fond of him over time and to think of him not coming back...

It was irrational, he knew. Not his forte.

Luigi still had one hand on Peasley's shoulder, the other having drifted, unnoticed by both, at some point to the prince's leg. Luigi glanced down and jumped at the realization, pulling his hands close to his chest. He mumbled something unintelligible, but it was most likely an apology. He looked unbelievably embarrassed.

Peasley took hold of his hands at the wrists and pulled them away from his chest, not quickly or strongly enough to injure, but enough to show that he would not tolerate resistance. Not that Luigi was particularly likely to give him any.

Luigi stared at him in confusion, shaking and blushing very hard.

The ledge they sat on was not particularly large and they had been sitting quite close to one another. Luigi had been resting against a wall which Peasley now decided to put to use. He moved Luigi's hands from his chest to his sides, opening up the more-then-likely unconscious body language barrier, which Luigi did not fight against. He watched him in curiousity but did not question what he was doing.

Too shy, too afraid, it was hard to say.

He pushed him against the wall slowly enough so that it would be clear what he intended to do. He pressed Luigi's hands against the brick, pinning them. Shifting so that both of his legs were up on the ledge, he leaned over Luigi and stared down at him.

It wasn't fear that returned his gaze. He wasn't sure what it was.

When he leaned down to kiss him again, he found that he was met halfway. At the contact, he felt Luigi's hands twitch underneath his grasp, momentary and unintentional resistance.

_You will come back._

By now quite intrigued and interested by the power that was being given to him, he kissed him quite hard this time, pushing his head back against the wall. Luigi made some muffled sounds, but that was all.

Without conscious knowledge he shifted his position again to get better leverage. He could feel the blood pumping beneath his grasp and the heat off of Luigi's face. Deciding that if he was going to try it, he may as well try it now, he decided to deepen the kiss. Luigi whimpered again when he felt the tongue against his lips, but from the quick entrance he granted it, it did not seem to be an unhappy one.

He was pinned and completely, voluntarily underneath his power. Only momentary twitches of his hands affected his grasp.

_You have to come back.  
_  
He was so unsure of himself. Even now he barely tried to respond the activities of the prince's tongue. He was definitely tense, but was too shy to actually interact with him. At this point it didn't matter. Luigi made another soft noise that indicated he was enjoying what was happening to some extent, and Peasley was quite aware of what he was doing and how he wanted to do this far more often.  
_  
Please come back.  
_  
The next soft moan was echoed.

After a few more seconds, they broke apart.

When Peasley opened his eyes, he found Luigi staring up at him with the same kind of nervous shyness that seemed to characterize all their interactions. Despite the fact that he was too afraid to really express how he felt or anything of that nature, the blush, his heavy breathing, and his constant tremors expressed it for him.

Peasley himself tried to breath steadily, having put more into that then he intended. He found that while he had been moving around during the kiss he had shifted so that he was straddling Luigi entirely. With a quick whispered apology, he released his wrists and got off of him, moving a slight distance away in hopes that he hadn't been too forward.

Although considering, it was a bit too late for that.

When Luigi's hands were released, they went right back to his chest where they had been before. Maybe he was trying to track his heartbeat. Peasley's sure was going off the charts.

And then followed an incredibly awkward silence.

Peasley toyed with the edge of his cape for a minute, glancing at Luigi occasionally. The younger Mario was staring at his feet again, still blushing furiously.

"Well, um..." Peasley finally broke the silence. Luigi turned and looked at him, still shivering. "When...when do you, um...have to leave?"

He coughed awkwardly and scratched at his face. Luigi looked down.

"Tomorrow," he mumbled. Peasley stared at him for a few moments, then smiled in a way that he hoped looked more confident then he felt.

"Well, that's good then...we've still got some time before you have to go." Luigi snapped his head up and stared at him again, his eyes wide. Peasley laughed nervously. "I mean, so we can have dinner and such...you can say good-bye to everyone, that kind of thing..."

Luigi smiled and nodded at that, sighing slightly.

"You're definitely coming back, right?" Just one more assurance.

Luigi nodded.

_Yes, I think you will.  
_  
Peasley stood, brushing himself off and flicking some dust out of his hair, causing a room-wide glint of sparkling light. He turned to Luigi and held out his hand.

"Come on, let's go give the castle one last look." Peasley smiled as Luigi took his hand. "Well, not last."

Luigi laughed softly and he couldn't help but laugh with him.

The goodbye was not painful, as others had expected it more realistically then Peasley and the prince knew it was temporary. Luigi did tear up just slightly, but then again he cried easily.

As Luigi waved goodbye from the Beanbean Airport, he promised he would plant the red and yellow roses side by side.


End file.
